Demons Rising
by calicokitty111
Summary: An unstable crown, a rising demon, and a war that could bring the end times; Equestria has truly entered a new age of strife, one like no other. Celestia has spent years fighting over the legitimacy of her throne against liberal brigades and peasant uprisings, and now with a powerful stepping stone to her demise unveiled, little hope is left.
1. Chapter 1

The heavy wind blew celestia's mane more furiously than usual. The night was pitch black, and a new moon sat invisible in the sky, thanks to Luna. She sensed it, something she never hoped she would have to sense after Tyrek's escape. The bindings of Athura shattering.

Loud cracks thundered across the land. But it was not the thunderous sky. It was another aftershock from the earthquake yesterday. The earth had roared like thousands of manticores, and it broke apart like dry dirt. Massive thunderclaps of magma and earth arose from the cragged ground to the west, near ponyville, and gorges and sinkholes appeared left and right.

Citizens scurried about below the balcony of her castle, across the cracked streets and broken houses, saving the many that had been trapped in the debris. The hospitals and clinics were filled to the brim with the injured from the collasal earth- shattering event that had taken place. Guards had to keep the protesting citizens, the lower class of ponies in canterlot, from breaking through and ransacking the inner city. The nobles, the higher up's born into magic and magistrate, were surrounded by royal guard and mercenary alike, shivering and trembling in fear of the ever-rising swarm of paupers and peasants.

She heard hoofsteps behind her, and she sensed her sister's energy. It was dark as night, a blackened blob of shadow that surrounded her being like the edges of the moon. Her mane twinkled like a starry night, but also held many broken points in the pattern, like large storm clouds sweeping across a peaceful sky. She wore her armor, plates of hardened silver and steel shined and polished to the point of a silvery aura.

"Hello Luna, was my hypothesis true?"

"Yes sister, and what's worse is his energy is dissipating . He had left right after the earthquake had commenced", said Luna, "he could be anywhere."

"Well, could you track his energy?"

"I am sorry sister, but he is using some sort of mask, maybe an alchemical remedy or illusion spell."

Celestia sighed. "We cannot let him escape. He has obviously grown stronger, if he can mask his aura to such and extent. Think of the damage he could cause among the lower class if he could find his way to the Shadowskulkers."

Luna shook her head in a disappointing way, obviously not approving of her sisters Zealous ambition to capture Azurith. It was an unhealthy goal, for Azurith had obviously exceeded her hopeful expectations of power. Luna decided not to think of what a final encounter would end in.

"What, do you not approve?", her sister replied to her gesture irritably, "He is a pest, a rodent that must be exterminated. His kind had their chance, and they fell under our magic."

Luna ground her teeth. "He was innocent, just a babe when we found him, but despite this fact, you refused to speak to him until he had shown some aptitude with magic. And when it was black magic, the magic you knew flowed through his veins just as much as his very blood, you Despised him even more!"

"Black magic is evil!"

"Magic is not evil! It is a tool, a resource. A sword is not evil, is it? Only the caster can make such an accusation true or not. And Azurith was just Ten years when you cast him into the depths of Tartarus, never to be seen again! Is he the evil one, or does sense and sympathy allude you?"

Celestia stomped her hoof on the marble, her eyes blazing with anger. Her mane whipped around like it was stuck in a storm. "You have no right to say that! His kind was a menace, slavers and conquerors of the masses in Alasphar. Do you not remember Mother? Father? Atoshik and Mitaar? Their ashes spread across the land because of their sacrifice!"

"It was not sacrifice, but consequence for our people's ignorance. And father never would have wanted this."

With her final allegation, Luna spread her wings and flew to ponyville, to their old castle. Celestia stomped her hooves again in fury, and her horn glowed. The air began to smell of ozone and rain, and the beginning of a destructive tempest commenced. Clouds spread beyond the borders of Canterlot and ignited the air with sparks of white and yellow.

0 0 0

A Dark flurry of snow surrounded him, like a cloak of white. His energy emitted from him, melting the frost around him. A trail of frozen water followed him like a pathway, a pathway he had created.

His Dark hair and eyebrows swayed in the heavy wind, covering his eyes periodically and disrupting his vision. It did not bother him in the lightest. He could see without his eyes. Aura surrounded him. It was like a vision, or a dream, a shadowed hue of the magical world that existed within the life around him. Pathways thousands of years old, restless armies of spirits and demonic presences that rivalled Cerberus surrounded him in a soupy cloud.

The wind howled like an enraged wolf. His ears were clotted with the noise. He walked forward lazily, his black cloak swaying in the burning frost and wind, and his boots were caked with snow.

Voices surrounded him, spirits of ancient crystalline citizens muttering in olden languages he barely understood. Their muffled, wary voices grew to voices of awe and happiness. A spirit of great power approached, shooing off dark presences with a burning solar light. The spirit realm, the Thukrask, cleared into a shimmering cloud. The grey alicorn that stood before his humanoid form cracked the ground and burned the dormant grass with a scent of fire. Tattoos of angelic beauty adorned her jeweled neck and face, and her horn was carved into a helix.

Her presence was a visitation of curiosity. Her voice echoed through the Thukrask like a war horn. "Why, traveler, why do you come here to the land of my progeny? Do you come to gloat of your survival, maybe to lay waste to this frozen hell scape, or is it for a reason that is more intimate?" She looked him into his eyes, a look of sadness. Her lapis pupils glowed.

Azurith shook his head. "I cannot commute with a stranger of your power without knowing your name. Why not tell me? I wish to know of my potential attacker."

She chuckled in a bitter way. "Names hold power, young Taurika, and the same can be said for mine. And a name of power would not be trusted with one so... aggressive."

"My aggressive nature is well founded, but your curiosity is not. I ask only for your name. You are among the spirits, among the ones powerful enough not to enter the maw of Cerberus. What makes you think I can't hurt you?"

"Taurikai are enveloped in powers beyond my understanding. I wish not to expose myself to the very creature that can enslave the dead and enthrall the elements, and maybe do so much more."

She looked at him woefully. "But if you wish to know my identity, I will tell you about myself. I ruled this land, long ago, when the frost was not a menace, but a boon, to my peoples. Our great scholars and mages and alchemists worked their arts in my very city. The people still hold me in a position of power among their afterlives due to my prosperous-"

"It was not your fault, Tishfavuer, It wasn't your fault, but your brethren. The scrolls speak of your hatred for the plan for the spell of Thraxcius and his queens and kin in the seat of Skyholme."

A look of fear spread across her face, a look of horror and sorrow. Her peoples shivered within the darkness, refugees stuck in the limbo of the passing. Their muttering grew to shouts and curses, their centuries of pain, sorrow, and misery expelled upon him. His crimson eyes looked down upon the snow, and into the swirling lapis tempests of her eyes. He felt her pain.

"You brethren at the summit of Kalkris did not heed you, your warnings and caring words. They left their posts as peacekeepers and sat upon the throne of the executioner and felled the world with their axe of insolence."

The crowds of spirits swirled into dark crystalline demons of shadow. Their eyes were glowing red and they bore fangs of obsidian. they screamed in rage.

"And even though your peoples spoke out against you, you held your ground and tended your flock. If anyone deserves justice, it is you. You were the Shepard among wolves. I send you to the afterlife!"

Her body began to dissipate into starlight. She muttered two words before she disappeared completely. "Thank you."

The spirits, now turned into monstrosities of shadow and hatred swirled into a single, hulking mass. It was fifteen feet tall, with the lower body of a decomposing dragon, bulky legs of rotting flesh and scales, and the upper body of a rotting Cerberus, a hybrid of hatred and bloodlust.

An Ithapokt.

It's three heads snarled and snapped like hungry street dogs, lusting the taste for blood. They stared at him, the whispers of hateful spirits enveloping their vision.

 _Sadist. Murderer. Ghoul._

Azure's hand enveloped in a coat of inky shadow that quickly ignited into fire. He unsheathed a dagger with his other hand. His eyes burned with silent rage. These people had betrayed their benevolent ruler for promises of gold and jewels. They would pay.

He extended his inky magic into a lance of fire. It was almost like an extension of his arm, an extended limb. The Ithapokt charged towards him, claws in a sweeping motion. Azure easily dodged and landed behind the Monster after a graceful front flip. The Demon stumbled into the snow and pulled itself back up, but Azure was quicker. He swung his lance and shoved it into the back of the demon, piercing it's heart. It shook him off, and clenched the hole where he had pierced it's chest.

Without hesitation, he snapped apart his lance with a nimble slash and sent shards of solid shadow into the body of the beast. All three heads were pierced, and it's body was shredded apart, reminiscent to a hunk of mince meat.

It boiled away into a bubbling pool of inky blood. It sank into the dirt, seeking Tartarus, Seeking Cerberus's maw. The storm had dissipated, revealing a view of the crystal empire, a glorious citadel awaiting his arrival. He pulled his fallen cloak over his head and trudged toward the tower.


	2. Chapter 2

Political Overview

The world of equestria had long since been portrayed as a medieval/renaissance kingdom, but I aim to change that to an extent, where the world, our world was during the periods of 1835-1856.

Politics:

Politics in equestria have changed quite a bit over the past years that twilight had taken the ponyville throne and cadence slipped into isolationism. Many of the cities near the eastern coast of equestria, like fillydelphia and las pegasus, had broken out into anarchy and demanded liberal reforms, common in europe during the mid 1800s. While celestia promised them more local autonomy and limited self-governance, much of the eastern populace is dissatisfied with her recent actions, such as levieing thousands of soldiers to the royal active military, bringing the national reserve up to seventy thousand and forcing auspicious embargoes on the provinces.

With the west still embroiled in combat with a recent changeling invasion, and the north weakened by imperialistic isolation from the crystal empire, the locals of the south and the center of equestria are faced with the grueling task of feeding an ever-growing nation. Education has also been dismissed by celestia, with her very words as- (This mighty nation has been dampened by hostilities, both inward and outward, and with world threats rising to peak animosity, our only hope is to feed our dying army what it needs most; ponypower. Once this wretched beast of the changelings is pushed into its kennel, then we can repair our inward problems)

The west has also experienced some liberal and socialist reforms towards the writings of High Hoof Quill and his remarkably well funded publishers, _The Goldgate Gazette._ With the armies of both the separatists and the loyalists finding common ground with an invasive species, they have agreed to co-exist for now. But once the changelings are driven back, if they are driven back, the now armed populaces will no doubt clash, and if the east and the west join forces, it would become such an ordeal that Celestia could risk death or banishment from the empire if their thirsts for individual freedoms aren't quenched.

Economics:

The economic overview of equestria and it's smaller neighbors have changed greatly in the past few years. For one, both the west and the east have somewhat industrialized and much of the population has become more dense around massive cities. Jobs are never scarce, and even with the Changeling/Celestial war in full blown conflict, the western Aristocrats and Plutocrats still make good money off the production of small arms and early artillery like mortars and cannons.

The southern provinces have experienced a famine after a severe drought and an uprising of buffalo lead by their new leader, chief copperhorn. With their northern brothers, central equestria, and their extreme advances in agriculture, like steam powered harvesters, They have migrated west and east for job opportunities and even work in the coal mines to the north.

This is equestria in the year 3456.


	3. Chapter 3

The courtroom was a quiet affair. Celestial sat on her throne, back straight and eyes focused on the map in front of her. Several locations were highlighted, places where Azurith could seek refuge and hide away. They were remote places, held and hidden away from the world for centuries, even eons.

She sighed and looked over the map again. Her back ached and here eyes were heavy and sore from the storm she had summoned from the night before. The southern plains had turned into wetlands for farmers just after the harvests and now rice was being implemented into their diets. She almost chuckled at her idiotic animosity.

To her, Azurith was a threat. No, a major threat. Her sister believed he could be swayed with speech and barter, and cadence was still in denial from all those years ago, but she knew he would topple the system she had created to keep the peace. He needed to be eliminated.

A small fire of woeful rage had settled in her heart. Everyday she regretted her insolent mistake of banishing him to tartarus, but she was scared and young... maybe not young, but more inexperienced with his kind. He controlled dark forces. She controlled the light side of things. She sprayed warmth and sunlight throughout her realm. He lurked within the shadows and could raise the dead. He could burn through any armor and swat aside spells of great power with the flick of his wrist.

She looked back at the map again. It was well decorated and made of polished bronze painted with the best water colour and embedded into the marble table, much like the map in twilight's castle but more work-enthused. It's several main points shimmered with her magic.

The first point was the western coasts near Filliedalphia and Las Pegasus. They harbored rebels and outlaws of all sorts, and while they could be a bit underfunded, she knew they all would have some form of hatred for her rule.

Then there was the ruins of Athrigar. It was farther north, in the southern frozen north, hidden from peering mortal eyes. She had explored it once, finding it full of aggressive automatons and a band of ishgythan raiders, vulpine creatures native to somewhere in northern Alasphar, near the arctic. It was a cold, frigid place and few could survive better in the cold than them except for northern Taurika and their followers.

Next was the highest chance location, the crystal empire. It was no secret that Cadence held some sort of dependence and intimacy of sorts to Azurith, and he was likewise, the same. They had a bond slightly more than friendship when he resided in the castle ten years ago. She would likely take him in, and Cadence was a dangerous enemy to anger.

She had two viable options considering the delicacy of the situation. While there was some small chance that he would stop at only filliedalphia, she suspected that he would lean on Cadence for a few days to regain his power. It was a solid plan, except for it was susceptible to estimation, a dangerous sign that a plan would fail.

She sighed. She didn't wish to provoke Cadence, whether she was guilty or not. Her political scheme was falling apart as it is. She didn't need colder relations with her. Athrigar wasn't ideal either. The automatons would stay loyal to their Taurikian creators, and there was no doubt that the Ishgythans still held some loyalty to their former masters in their hearts, even after several generations. If she were to march into the ruins with an army, it would be a massacre, a bloodbath. thousands would die, and if Azurith was there, his magic would only hinder her attempts to capture him, since ancient mana resided in the olden ruins like flies in the air.

Then there was the eastern shore cities. It would be unlikely that Azurith would head there until he had made a name for himself. It was a dangerous prospect as well, since the embargoes and recruitment hadn't bode well with the locals.

She leaned back and shook her head in disgust. It was all to difficult. She felt like she was trapped in a cage, except there was no key. It was just locked. She knew that the people suffered, but the recent years hadn't been kind on equestrian as a whole. Aristocrats like Blueblood and Entrepreneurs had clashed over autonomy and an emphasis on free trade. The Nobility wanted local taxes put in place with the state taxes, and the entrepreneurs wanted to do away with sales taxes and tariffs. Both would cause calamity of different ways.

Then there was the famine in the south. This was when the entrepreneurs lost steady shareholders and profits from the area. Whole towns simply disappeared in the dust storms and earthquakes. People left to the west and east, and with liberal agendas being more and more supported by deceived paupers, They could start a peasants revolution or even simply hold a coup with enough aristocratic support.

Then there was Azurith. She feared him the most, not because of his magical abilities... she could, maybe, beat him in a duel, and his body was no doubt weak from the departure from Tartarus, but his most powerful trait was his leadership skills. He had helped plan reforms and wrote speeches and even designed economic spreadsheets for Nobility and Entrepreneurs alike. He knew how to lead armies and raise morale, and he could juggle separate parties with equal representation like it was child's play. When she first discovered his strategic ingenuity, she had a quick hope, a hope for an heir.

Blueblood was selfish and cruel, and while he had some degree of skill, he was more worried about personal coffers and agendas than the people. Twilight was Intelligent, no doubt, but she excelled in more secular and magical situations. Cadence had more skill with charisma and speech craft, and was often stumped with difficult economic situations.

Celestia let out a sad sigh and a tear. She regretted with every fiber in her body for what she had done, and now she was paying the price for it. She knew little of Azurith's condition, whether he was healthy or even sane. She glowered in her despair.

The doors slammed in front of her. She pulled herself together and sat straight with professionalism. In front of her was a high ranking officer, she could tell by his attire and badge. He wore a beige frockcoat with brass buttons adorned with five separate medals and several pockets, along with a officer's had with the words 71st regional grenedier battalion imprinted on it. A bloody bandage covered his forehead and his canteen was dented and scraped.

He bowed in a respectful manner and then looked up to Celestia. "My lady, my superiors, Regional General Trueshot and Regional General Cannonfire both request reinforcements on the changeling border."

She nodded curiously. "The news of the war?"

He looked grim. "We had won the latest battle at stonecreek, but we lost nearly all our forces. I lost most of my grenediers, I only have seventeen out of my original seventy two. Our cannons and howitzers are without munitions and we ran out of medicine a good two weeks ago."

She wasn't surprised about that. While she had updated her forces with grenedier and cannons months ago, and replaced the crossbows and Arbiqueses of the old, the changelings could prove to be powerful enemies if angered. What did surprised her was what had taken them so long to respond.

"Why the wait? I had more forces last week, before the relief efforts and the latest uprising in Filliedalphia."

He choked on his words slightly, obviously worried of her next response. "Well, the battle had ended two days ago at sunset. Then we had to get the men encamped and entrenched on the border as best we could. Then of course my superiors, especially Trueshot, debated on who to send and how to send them, as the railways had been disabled and the wagons suffered a similar fate. I took a steamboat to the capital, a days trip, and rested for the night."

She nodded inquisitivelly on his response. "How many do your superiors request to fortify this twenty five mile border? I have not many to spare."

"Twenty thousand, grenedier and artillery and all."

She shook her head. "For a stubborn one Trueshot isn't very smart. He loses nearly all of the regional forces and expects more like they grow on trees? I'll send him ten thousand now."

Now the officer looked very scared. Celestia could tell he was sweating.

He bowed again, and turned to leave.

"And one more thing," she called to him, "tell Trueshot not to fail me again."

The officer nodded and raced out the door.

She sensed Luna behind her. "Troubles with officers, sister?"

Celestia shook her head in utter disappointment. "Failing generals and officers. Sometimes I wonder why I sponsored that pig headed bastard all those years ago Luna. He was self righteous and greedy, but he showed some skill."

Luna chuckled darkly. "It is not the mindset, but the ability that will make a noble useful, sister. He may be a pig headed bastard, but he is damn good at his job."

Celestia snorted. "He was, five years ago, in his youth. It seems all that brandy went to his head during the war. Not to mention those eastern cigars. Last time we talked he was half through a hangover and smelled like an ashtray."

Luna let out another chuckle. "Sure, you choose your dignitaries very wisely, don't you?"

She cackled and flew to the balcony to raise the moon. Celestia buried her face in her hooves and groaned. With Trueshot and his asshole associate on the front lines, she truly worried for the borders. But that would have to wait. She had a Taurika to find.

0 0 0

The crystal empire sat before him, it's sapphire towers and marble houses organised in a pattern of wide roads and intersections. Ponys mingled and browsed the selections of the local market. He could see guards patrolling the blue walls, actively watching for any sign of trouble.

Trouble like himself.

He sighed. He hated deceiving mortals on most occasions, but it was often necessary. In his form, he was impossible to mistake for anyone else, and if anyone saw him, anyone at all, they were a liability.

He breathed in deeply and focused on dark. Shadow. He slowly felt his transformation. He melted into the ground like a black inky pool and simmered away from the sunlight.

He wouldn't be seen by most now. It took spellcasters of great skill to sense powerful presences if one wasn't wary. He moved towards the sapphire wall and melted through it, and appeared on the other side, in the cracks of the cobblestone.

He took some time admiring the city. It was rare for a city, even rarer for Taurikian cities, to be so crystalline and decorated. Most equestrians were simple creatures and Taurikai were more practical for their time. So he had never seen the city, although he had heard of it both from Sombra and before he fell into tartarus.

He zig zagged through the cobblestone streets and alleyways to the central palace. He needed to meet cadence to tell her of his plan, and to express his gratitude to her and Shining Armor. Although he didn't like Azure as much as Cadence, they still were close, in ways. He was more distant and practical, worried for his loved ones but also his work and everyday life. Cadence lived in the heat of the moment, more of a lover than a worker, and was deeply entrenched in the hearts of everyone she cared about, going above and beyond for them.

The castle was ahead, and the double oak doors were oddly thin for the rest of the castle. He easily melded through it and came upon the throne room. Cadence was there, rocking what looked to be a filly.

The guards were absent and so was shining armor. The throne room was completely void.

"Am I interrupting something?"

She jumped in surprise and made a squeak. The filly almost fell from her arms and began to giggle. She looked around warily.

"Who's there?"

He chuckled and appeared from his hiding spot, he reformed from the shadows. Cadence spotted him and her eyes deepened with worry.

"Azure... I- oh, what can I say. It's been years."

"Seven. Seven years."

She looked down and then at the filly in her arms. Then, as the blanket somewhat fell of of the child, he noticed it had a horn and wings.

No way.

"Cadence, is that... your child."

She looked bewildered. Then she looked at the filly with a kind smile.

"Yes."

"Who's the father?"

"Shining armor."

He was somewhat surprised by this. While he knew they were close friends, he never had expected them to have a child and maybe marry. Shining Armor didn't seem like one to commit to a relationship, but it had been seven years. Maybe he had changed.

"I'm surprised he decided to commit. He was pretty wild in his early years of service."

"It was one of his good qualities. He keeps me on my toes."

Azure snorted. "Isn't that the wife's job."

He would've continued the conversation, especially since she seemed to become more calm as the spoke about nothing in particular, but he had work to do.

"I will leave soon. I can't stay here and endanger you and your family!"

She perked up. "But Azure-"

"I cannot stay. I have... ruins to explore and creatures to converse with. Things may not go according to plan." He looked warily at the main doors, where footsteps were being emitted.

"I care for you like a sister, Cadence. I won't endanger you, besides, I want your child to consider me an uncle someday, when there isn't as much tyranny."

She gave him a look of defeat and backed off. "I- just- be careful."

He nodded encouragingly and as the doors opened, he melded with the shadows and skunked through the wall.

He was hurt, sure, sad even. He couldn't stay with Cadence. Celestia and her students will no doubt follow him, and that would put Cadence in grave danger if Celestial was just as unstable as he suspected.

A shadowy tear fell from his face. I'm sorry Cadence.


	4. Chapter 4

Thei'stal sat upon his rusted metal chair. The old dining room may have once been a grand sight, but now it was in disarray. Broken automatons were scattered around the room and much of the inlaid furniture had since rotted or rusted away. Him and his brethren sat along the metal table, conversing while eating their latest kill, a herd of snow buffalo. But even though it was a fine meal, he wasn't very hungry.

It was a quiet affair. Many of his fellow tribesmen spoke in hushed tones and kept to their small groups. They often pointed at him, probably speaking of the latest gossip. His immersion. The first immersion.

The immersion was the rarest event of their tribe's history. It hadn't happened yet. It spoke of the time when their chief would leave the ruins they all were born in. To find the Taurikai and restore the order that had once existed all those years ago. On the 5th day of the tenth month of the 2000th year the current chief would exit the tribe, alone. He would look for the closest heir to the throne and travell with him or her for a year.

In alk honesty, it was terrifying. Few of his tribe had left the perimeter of the ruins for anything except for hunting in centuries, since the degraded had left with adventurers to fully break down in the warmth of the sunlight. Ancient tunic texts of what had happened still circled through the ruins among unbelievers and children, but the possession of such sect texts was considered blasphemous and heretical. None were allowed to leave except for a five mile hunting radius around the ruins.

He noticed his plate was still untouched, and he didn't want to insult Aunt V'saad's cooking. He took a bite even with his lack of appetite and drank an entire glass of mead, made from cave bees and siltberries.

He spun around on his stool and looked into his polished, empty glass. His vulpine features were further adorned with sacred tattoos of his people. A necklace of amber braids adorned his neck and a bundle of javelins was strapped to his back with yak leather. He wore old fur wrappings and boots.

As he stared into the cup, more fear washed over him. His kind had not seen the world since the collapse. It had been two thousand years since then. What had happened to the world? As a child he could put this off since he always had what he had needed in the ruins. But now life had gotten harder and harder. Game outside the walls had slowly disapeered and their livestock were being slaughtered to feed their own. The automatons had grown restless as well, although their problems weren't intertwined.

The worst that could happen would be to loose faith in the successor. Someone was bound to be the next heir to the ruby throne eventually, no matter who it was, and then after enough hard work order could be restored. But with no food, his fellow tribesmen would likely abandon their posts.

He pondered his options. As the chieftain, no matter how young, he could call for a meeting with the automatons to discuss a solution, but as their mindsets weren't based on their 'primal needs', losing the ishgythians seemed trivial to them. It wasn't much of a problem or threat.

He heard the clanking of an old metal shaft on the ground. He looked up and saw the old sage, Sthin'shro hobble over. Thicker white fur grew on his chin and his eyes were of a madman, but no matter his ragged appearance, he had offered Thei'stal countless advice and help.

The old sage looked Thei'stal in the eye and cocked his eyebrow, making him have a bushy white unibrow thicker than the rest of his fur. His fur was in knots and he was shedding to no extent.

"What seems to be the problem, my chief? Something troubles you."

"Both the pilgrimage and the shortened food supplies worry me. How can I abandon my people when food runs short?"

"It may not be ideal, but it is necessary. No chiefs were ever epitomes."

"My father was", the vulpine said in a gloomy way, catching the sage's attention.

Sthin'shro shook his head and gave the young chief a disappointed look. "Your father had his flaws as well. Do not forget that, chief. But he still lived to do great things. He bonded a lasting peace with the automatons and lead a holy exploration into the depths of the ruins."

"The automatons share no similarities with us except for who we wait for! They care nothing of us!"

"Maybe so, but it is better than a rivalry. If you are right and they don't care about us, then they will leave us alone."

Thei'stal quickly changed the subject. "What of food? We cannot follow the Taurikai with empty bellies! Our people will abandon all hope!"

The old sage gave him a coy wink. "We will think of something, chief. We always had. You, however, are destined to find the Frozen Prince against all odds."

"Nobody can do it!", said Thei'stal.

"Nobody has done it", corrected Sthin'shro, "It doesn't mean it isn't hopless."

"Why not help me? I could use your wisdom. The outside world is a cruel and merciless place."

"But the precursors thought differently. Besides, I know you can do it.", said the old sage. "You have to."

Thei'stal slumped in his seat and looked back into his cup. Sthin'shro chuckled and turned around to the rest of the ruined dining pavilion. "Do not forget your duty, Thei'stal, because it will determine the fates of us all."

With that, the sage hobbled back to the bonfire.

0 0 0

Trueshot sat in his tent. The air smelled of smoke and ruin and powder. In his hands was a map of the eastern badlands, the territory of the changelings. Several key sites were struck with knives.

Upon the simple oak table was a half drunken bottle of CloudColt Brandy and an ashtray of three cigars. His lieutenants sat around him, examining the map with him. They had looks if concerns on their faces.

"General, we haven't much time, we haven't heard from brigader captain Firebrand for a week and he is accompanied by our reinforcements."

"General, the West trench was abandoned and the east trench in almost in the same situation. Few of them even have shot and powder left to fire, much less medicine and food!"

Trueshot growled and lit another cigar. He sucked in the bitter smoke and let it out of his nose, distracting his lieutenants from their current task; to them the cigar could have smelled like a trash fire. He didn't care. He needed to lower his stress and calm his nerves.

After a few more, silently awkward puffs, he gestured his hooves towards his second in command, Steelfire and his young officer in training, winged lance. Their faces were laden with dirt, scars, and grim determination.

Trueshot spoke out, his voice somewhat raspy. "Winged Lance, here is your chance to prove yourself. Once the reinforcements get here, launch an assault on the local changelings depot. Without a place to rest the marches from the West will only become longer for the changelings."

The young unicorn nodded, a look of ambition in his eyes. That was one thing Trueshot liked about him. He always had goals and was determined to complete them perfectly, even if his solutions lacked more strategic grace than anything; ponies often saw him as blunt. Trueshot saw him as a genius among colts.

"Steelfire, I want the empty trenches manned with any colts left. Spread out your forces if necessary."

Steelfire arched his eyebrow, but didn't question his tactics. The young colt had just joined the ranks as a brigader lieutenant and had shown some ability, but mostly with his speechcraft and his ability to wrung the troops out of a distraught situation in an instant. He had a pale grey coat and short white mane and an officer's uniform along with it.

"Of course, Trueshot.", the colt replied casually while leaving through the tent flap into the rainy atmosphere of the battlefield. The rest dispersed and continued to their duties as planned. He only had one question; where were the reinforcements?

He pulled out a stubby cigar from his metal Tobacco canister and lit it with a match. After several puffs, the room was filled with black smog from the brand; Caltrop Premiums. He burnt halfway through it when another officer, one he hadn't expected, entered.

"Ah, Thyriene, what a pleasure to see you." He spoke and smoked at the same time, and the griffin officer coughed and covered her nose. The ash shrouded on her ragged leather armor and explorer's hat, a hide flatcap decorated with beads and bearteeth. Her expression was equally as annoyed as urgent.

"Ugh, Trueshot, clear this filth you call a luxury out of this camp. You have enough of it to smoke a doe!", she coughed some more and opened up the tent flap to release the toxic fumes out into the open air. "At least have the decency to show your guest some courtesy."

Trueshot rolled his eyes in disgust and sighed. "I show you courtesy daily, Thyriene. You let your men eat all our damn rations and smoke those drugs from the tiaga, what is it? Sputter root? On top of that, they harass the nurses to no end, no matter the species. It seems your the only woman they have respect for."

As usual, she swatted the insult to the side as if it was a wad of paper and approached the table, sat down, and poured herself some brandy, his brandy! She had a cocked eye and several other annoying features, as if to say well, I'm waiting. Say it. Her rifle was slung on her back in a haphazardly way and she downed the first like water and poured another.

"Weak stuff, really. Like your commandeering skills. Ripe and young and absent of any kick whatsoever. I prefer more of a gin, with toxicity and spice to those who dare drink it." She had a sly grin, now. "Celestia grows sick and tired of your child's play, Trueshot. She thinks a foreign mercenary could solve the problem, namely me."

"And you speak of toxicity! Maybe with the kick of the aging, but not the reputation for the price. I'm surprised Celestia dragged you out of that festering slime pit you call a town to hand you a contract." He didn't fear her. He could beat her in a fight square. "Maybe it took more than combat to earn that reputation, hmm?"

She swiped her claw across the table, shredding the map and chipping a shot class. The smoke in the room swirled like a whirlpool. "Why do you think she wants you replaced? You sit in this tent drunk all day and give meaningless orders! At least I have the balls to enter the battlefield!"

"Out of my tent, now. You may be up for recruitment, but this is still my camp. Leave."

She just sat there, her anger morphing to shock and dismay. "How... how dare you?"

"Leave. Now."

She stood up and left the tent, sputtering angry curses. He saw the cup she left on the table, empty of brandy, and the spilled ashtray and torn map. It could only mean trouble.

He lit another cigar and puffed eagerly to calm his nerves.


End file.
